A Dark Transcendence
by Narutotensakage
Summary: Naruto finds out about the Kyuubi earlier than expected, with its help, and that of others, he unlocks his true, and godly potential
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my first fanfic and I am really hoping that you all will enjoy it. Please give me constructive criticism, no flames, they are for the Uchiha's. NOT YOU.

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, OR ANY OTHER ANIME/MANGA I MAY OR MAY NOT USE IN THIS STORY, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS AND CREATORS. **

Please be aware of the graphic content of this story, as there will be violence, swearing, and disturbing actions taking place, any who do not wish to read may back out now

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><p>It was October tenth, a cursed day among the people in the village hidden in the leaves- Konohagakure was the name- because of an attack by a great demon only six years ago, on this day. The great demon was of the nine famed 'tailed beasts', large demon lords possessing tails that determined their ranking amongst themselves, the one who attacked was by far the strongest. The Kyuubi no kitsune-the nine tailed fox- was the most feared of the tailed beasts because it was rumored that the monster could shake the earth and make volcanoes erupt with but a swing of one of it's immense tails. Thankfully the villages great leader, the 4th hokage was able to stop its destruction by sealing it within a newborn baby. This action came at a high price however, the hokage sacrificed his life to summon the death god-Shinigami- into the world to bind the demon's soul within the child's. And so, the boy lived, oblivious as to why he was hated and fear by the people of his village. That was going to change on this night.<p>

It was a seemingly peaceful moonlit night, not a single disturbance, everyone was resting, until the small pounding of tiny feet echoed throughout the streets. A small blur burst from around a corner, sprinting full speed away from whatever pursued it. It rounded another corner going slower now-possibly from fatigue- and revealed a mop of spiky, dirty golden blonde hair upon its head. the figure was a human-a little boy- running, but why? The question was soon answered by an ominous red and orange glow that was getting brighter, the light that fire gave off. Fire surely couldn't target someone and chase them right?

"Hurry up!"

"I saw him go that way"

"Kill it!"

Voices were heard, angry voices, followed by rushing footsteps, there were people chasing the boy! They spilled around the corner of the same building the boy had been only moments ago. They saw an alley, an alley that some of the mob knew to have a dead end.

"Hahahaha, the brat made a wrong turn, hahahaha" a bulky man shouted

"What do you know, he did," a woman replied, an evil look pasted on her face, "time for our revenge"

Other voices joined in, yelling "Finally!" and "Time to die you MONSTER"

Suddenly sounds were heard as the mob slowly approached the end of the alley, sounds of panic. The boy was breathing harshly to receive much needed oxygen into his overused lungs from the rigorous run through what seemed like half the village. He tried to bury himself under nearby trash to hopefully hide his body from his pursuers, unfortunately for him however, they had already seen him. The group stopped less than ten feet away, staring with eyes of burning hate at the innocent boy. A lone man stepped out, he was rather tall, of muscular build and he was holding a piece of steel pipe about nine inches long.

"Oh, we have all waited a long time for this, HAVEN'T WE!?" the man shouted, glaring at the boy, who cowered further into the trash that only covered half his body. He was answered by a series of "Yeah"s.

"P-please, have mercy, I-I don't k-know what i did, but i-i'm sorry, please d-don't hurt me" the boy pleaded through sniffles and snobs

The man ignored him and covered the remaining distance between himself and their prey, grabbing the boy with one arm and pulling him out of his pseudo hiding spot. He shoved the boy into the end of the alley, and signalled to a part of the mob, calling three men out. The leader hefted the boy up higher, and two of the men went to the boys right arm, one holding a fairly large nail in hand, the other a mallet. They pulled his arm until it was straight from his shoulder, and they aligned the nail to the boy's hand before they began to gruesomely hammer it through the hand and into the wall. The boy's screams were loud and filled with pain, he felt every shudder of the metal from the force of the blows, he felt the nail as it began forcing it's way through the brick behind him. He did not know why this happened, he knew this wasn't normal, he knew HE wasn't normal, but he didn't know how. He always asked himself why he was beaten, why people abused him, and it ate at him, he hated it.

The men now moved towards his left arm, and began the same procedure as they did for the right. Pain rippled through him with every single hit, and the villagers of the mob knew it, they enjoyed every second of it. They could tell the boy's lungs were gasping for air when, even as they continued to do the same to his feet, the boy stopped screaming and began to desperately try to breathe, would his torment never end? The boy began to see black edging into his vision, he felt light headed, he felt weak, he couldn't gather the strength to lift his head any longer, and so he passed out. The villagers saw this and frowned, but they let the men finish pinning the boy. The leader then woke the boy up with a strong blow the the abdomen with the pipe, he watched as the brat coughed and wheezed from the blow, spitting up drops of blood in the process.

He then leaned into the boy's ear and whispered "You want mercy? Where was your mercy when you attacked our village?" he leaned back and grabbed the boy's hair, pulling him up, and continued "When you killed our people? When you took MY family? WHERE WAS YOUR MERCY WHEN YOU KILLED OUR BELOVED HOKAGE!?" he finished shouting into the boy's face. He dropped the pipe and punched the boy in the gut, forcing more blood to explode from his mouth. The boy couldn't form a response as the man stepped back and allowed the others to have at him. Men and women swarmed around the boy, some with kunai, some with pipes, and some with torches, they ripped off his clothes and unleashed hell upon his body. A few men burnt his arms by placing torches under them. Two women cut and stabbed into his boyhood with kunai. A man attacked his hands with pipe, breaking every bone he could. A man heated a piece of ninja wire that were wrapped around two pieces of wood to make handles, and the proceed to seer over the boy's infamous demonic 'whisker' marks with it, all three on each side. A man took a kunai a sliced through his eyes. And finally two dozen kunai were impaled within the boy's legs up to his torso. The leader calmly watched with a cold, heartless gleam in his eyes, and a cruel smirk upon his face, he reveled in the demon's torment, the boys endless screams were like music to him.

"That is enough" he calmly spoke through the screaming and yelling, and the mob immediately responded to the command, clearing a path to the boy. The man grabbed a kunai from a woman who had offered it to him, and slowly walked up to the boy, his smirk never leaving. He kneeled down in front of the boy. before sodomizing him with the knife. He slowly pulled the blade out, making sure he cut more of the boys flesh by twisting the knife on it's way out. He wiped the bile off the blade onto the boy, before he spoke once more "Today we complete our Hokage's last wish, to see the demon rot in the depths of hell" before he placed the blade up to the boy's neck, cut in, and dragged the blade across the once again passed out boy's throat, ending his life.

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><p><strong>Inner World<strong>

_...Drip_

_...Drip_

_...Drip_

"...Ugh, what? What happened, where am I?" The boy awoke to find himself inside a sewer tunnel, floating in the water. His little oceanic eyes becoming highly alert almost instantly as he got up, remembering what happened before he blacked out. He looked ahead and saw a dimly lit corridor, he turned around and saw a brick wall that looked eerily similar to the one he was nailed to only recently, now that he thought about it, he didn't know what time it was.

He saw ripples coming toward him in the water, along with a slight breeze every couple of seconds. He decided to go find out what it was. Being careful not to make too much sound, or too many ripples in the water, he inched his way around a couple corners and noticed that the air around him was almost...tinged with red. The red was becoming brighter and it felt warm around his clothed body.

He froze...where had the clothes come from? Well, they weren't clothes-he noticed-it was a black kimono. Who would give him such a thing?

He decided to pay it no mind and continued on his journey. The air was becoming almost like a thin red mist, it glowed and lit his path. He saw it becoming more concentrated into a tendril at the ceiling, it always only went into one hallway, so he decided to follow it. It led to what looked like a door of crimson light, he pushed forward, into a room. The room had pipes that lined the walls-except one- there were three different types of pipe, one that had a slight blue glow, one that glowed red, and the third seemed to suck both the red and blue light into it, leaving it a purple-black color.

It was the back of the room that claimed the boy's curiosity, immensely large gates, ornately designed in a polished gold that gave off a royal glow. On the posts that were holding the gate were swirling designs going up to the ceiling. In the center of the gate was what looked like a piece of paper with some writing on it.

As the boy walked closer, he noticed that the water around the gate was boiling, yet when he reached the point where the water bubbled around his ankles, he felt no pain.

"**It is about time, hmmm hmmm hmmm, Naruto"** A deep gravelly voice spoke.

"W-who's there?" The boy known as Naruto shakely voiced, "and how do you know my name?"

"**I will tell you who I am, but first, Naruto you must drop that mask, at least to me, now what do you know of the attack on your birthday?"** The voice rumbled. Naruto could now tell the voice was coming from the black abyss beyond the gate. He didn't want to go in and meet whatever was in there, the area around the gate felt almost...off limits for him.

"The great big demon fox was killed on my birthday by the fourth Hokage, but the demon's power also killed him" Naruto answered calmly, hiding the slight panic he now felt. 'How did he know about my mask? Did I falter and show him?'

"**That is false"** The voice said, "**The Demon, Kyuubi could not be killed as you say, because it is an immortal being-it cannot be killed, at least, by normal means. Would you like to know the truth about that battle?" **Naruto nodded dumbly. "**The fourth Hokage knew that the tailed beasts-such as the Kyuubi- could not be slain, so he looked for a different way to defeat the beast. It was known that the Hokage had been a fuinjutsu master, he managed to create a seal that would hold the Kyuubi, however it came a a price. The seal he had created, summoned the Shinigami-the death god- and had the shinigami seal the demon, at the cost of his life. He didn't have the death god seal the demon inside an object, rather, inside a person…do you know who it is I am talking about, Naruto?**

"I-it can't...I-its gotta be..me, r-right?" the boy nervously asked.

"**It is, Naruto, who does that mean I am?" **The voice inquired.

"You...You're t-the Kyuubi" Naruto whispered.

"**Yes, I am"** Kyuubi stated.

"Why not try to eat me?" Naruto curiously asked "why introduce yourself by telling me that story?"

Gigantic crimson eyes with slitted pupils opened. '_**He's smarter than he lets on… I wonder how far you will go, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze…'**_

"**I feel pity for you kit, all the things that the villagers do to you, and so I offer a proposal, should you accept, I shall grant you training, knowledge,and power, decline, and you may walk out of this place,never to return" **Kyuubi questioned.

"I accept your deal, on one condition…" The boy's demeanor changed as he said this, he grew calm, calculative, and almost, cold.

"**Oh, and what would that be?" **Kyuubi asked, intrigued.

"That you tell me your name" Naruto said "I know that 'Kyuubi' is a title, not a name"

The eyes of the beast widened. '_**...Much smarter, he has loads of potential,hmmm hmmm hmmm, i'm beginning to like you kit.'**_

"**Very well, Naruto, my real name is Kurama**" Kurama stated.

"Hello Kurama-sensei" Naruto said.

"**Hmmm hmmm, We will speak again, however, it seems as if your body is waking up, I will speak with you telepathically, through your mind, when we cannot meet face to face like this, all you must do is think of your reply and picture it being sent in a letter to me. As a last statement, do not tell your Third Hokage of our deal, got it?"**

"Hai, sensei!" Naruto determinately responded, before fading away.

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><p><strong>Real World: 5 minutes ago<strong>

Konoha Hospital

'_What is happening to you my boy?' _An old man was sitting beside a hospital bed, staring at the six year old Naruto as it's occupant. He had seen the boy's attack-at least the end of it- when he had decided to check up on Naruto with his crystal ball. He rushed with a squad of ANBU to go and save Naruto, by the time they had gotten there, all of the attackers had fled the scene, leaving poor Naruto nailed to the wall. They went to the hospital to see if he could be revived-Kurama had healed some of his wounds, such as the slit throat-and they had barely made it in time. He was waiting on Naruto

to wake up, when the boy suddenly began pulsing red chakra, before it surrounded him and formed what looked like a shell, or a cocoon. He didn't dare touch it. He did hear faint cracking and what sounded like the horrendous ripping of flesh… He saw cracks forming in the shell, it swelled, ready to explode, the third's eyes widened, but then; miraculously, the shell shrank again and began to break apart.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto's scream echoed throughout half of Konoha. His body seared with excruciating pain as soon as he woke up, all his world was at the moment was a seemingly endless torture: an endless hell. He felt every piece of dust slam into his skin. He felt as if his bones were dropped off the Hokage monument and placed back into his body in random places. He felt the vibrations of someone walking towards the bed-through the bed itself. He felt the cold air freeze his-literally- steaming body. Then, abruptly, the most intense pain that he had ever felt simply vanished, without a trace, leaving him feeling perfectly healthy.

"Naruto?" Said boy turned his head to see the third Hokage staring down at him.

"Y-Yeah Jiji?" Naruto replied somewhat dazed at the sudden lack of pain.

"What do you remember of your attack?"

"I remember being nailed to a wall and being attacked until I passed out"

"...Anything else?"

"Meeting the Kyuubi" The third's eyes shot open at that. '_He MET the Kyuubi? Has the demon corrupted him? Is that what brought on such a drastic change? It was RED chakra that did this…"_

"What happened during your meeting, Naruto?" The third asked.

"Kyuubi told me about the night I was born, how it was a lie that he died, and that he was sealed in me, seeing as I was the only child born that night" Naruto explained.

"Did he say anything else? Like, how he might've changed something?" Hiruzen inquired.

"No, why?" Naruto was beginning to worry at what the third was saying.

"Stand up" Naruto began to move to get out of the bed when he noticed something, his feet looked a bit further away than they were before, his arms looked a bit longer too. His feet hit the floor much faster than expected, causing him to stumble and fall.

Naruto groaned as soon as he hit the ground, the impact causing him to feel a new soreness throughout his body. He felt...new...it was a strange feeling.

"Naruto!" The Hokage called, "are you alright?"

"Yea-" Naruto began to respond, before he heard Kurama's voice in his head.

"**Tell him that I can speak to you, and that it's because of me that you've changed, but do not tell him my name" **

'_What did you do? Why do I feel sore?' _Naruto thought and pictured his message being sent to the back of his mind, to Kurama.

"**I'm sure your Hokage will show you, just be patient" ** Kurama responded

"Kyuubi can talk to me now, and he says that it's his fault that i've changed...what happened to me anyway jiji? Naruto asked.

'_Kurama?!_' Naruto nervously called out in his mind, there was no reply.

"Come with me, and i'll show you" The old man replied quickly. He grabbed Naruto's arm and helped the, now taller boy, up.

'_**I wonder how you will take this, Naruto'**_ Kurama thought.

The Hokage aided Naruto out of the room and began leading him to the bathroom down the hall. Having a long history of being abused, naruto could see the looks on people's faces and almost read what emotion they were feeling at the time. He noticed the looks he was now getting, not all of them were of hate anymore, most of them were of confusion. He began to wonder just exactly how much had been altered with him.

By the time they had made it to the bathroom, Naruto was getting was getting incredibly nervous. The bathroom itself was pretty ordinary for a hospital, white tile floors, slate gray stalls, porcelain urinals and a gray, wall to wall, countertop with multiple sinks and a mirror.

He began to dread walking up to the mirror. He didn't look up as they approached it, then the old man lifted him up and set him on the counter of the sink to get a full body view of himself.

'_N-nani?_' He stared at himself, amazed by what he had missed noticing on the way to the bathroom. He was taller. Before the Kyuubi changed him, Naruto stood at a below average 3'1" at six years old. He was 5" shorter than normal, now he was above average, at 3'8". His hair seemed to flatten out across his head and spike off to the sides more, not to mention it was almost black in color. If the light wasn't hitting his hair at the correct angle, one would never know that his hair had actually become a very dark iridescent red. His eyes had become a dark shade of purple that also seemed to faintly glow. His 'infamous' whisker marks had become more defined. He had also lost some- not all- of his baby fat on his face and body.

'_Kurama...how did you do this to me?' _Naruto asked.

'**Since our meeting, something has changed, I now have access to your DNA, I don't know why exactly, but it will help us in the long run' **Kurama stated. He was truly confused as to why the seal had suddenly granted him access to the boy's body, he would have to look into it.

"Naruto?" An old voice interrupted their mental conversation. Hiruzen was beginning to feel worried about Naruto, he hadn't stopped staring at the mirror, and he also hadn't spoken a word.

"Naruto?" Hiruzen spoke louder, gaining the boy's full attention once again "How are you taking this?"

"I...think i'll be fine, it's just…a big change" Naruto slowly answered, he had to admit he liked his new look, but it was also so strange: he had basically woken up as a different person.

"Naruto, why were you outside at such a time, I thought the orphanage had a curfew" Hiruzen asked confused.

"...Jiji...I was kicked out of the orphanage three years ago" Naruto sadly responded. It was true, the heartless caretakers had thrown him out on the street after keeping him locked in the basement. They never let him play with the other kids.

The old man took a few seconds to let the information sink in. Three long years on the streets… and he never knew.

"Naruto...I'm so sorry. I should've made absolutely sure that you were there, and not just send the money to the orphanage, i'm so sorry" The Hokage bowed his head in shame, he had been paying the orphanage monthly for six years to take care of the boy, and he hadn't even been there. He felt like a complete and utter failure, he couldn't keep to his promise…

Naruto turned around to look at his jiji, he simply stared, he didn't know what to say. The old man then looked up and into Naruto's deep purple eyes-kami he'd have to get used to that-and began formulating a plan to get Naruto a home.

"Naruto, I am going to have you move into an apartment complex, I don't want you to be living off the streets ever again" Hiruzen stated

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><p>Nani-what<p>

And that's my first chapter, please tell me if I should continue with this idea or not. And yes, I know that this is a somewhat unoriginal beginning, just bear with me.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for reading my first chapter, I had an impressive amount of views on the first day of its publishment. I would like to tell my readers that this chapter will be less graphic, however, that will eventually change. In other news, I am in need of a Beta reader, so please PM me if you would like to help. **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OTHER ANIME/MANGA I MAY OR MAY NOT USE IN THIS STORY. ** Now on to what you all waited for...

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><p>It had taken only two days for the Third Hokage to have an apartment ready for Naruto. It wasn't much, but it was better than living off the streets. Naruto was now living in the red light district. This was the closest location to the Hokage Tower he could get that would accept the boy. It was sad really.<p>

The old man himself was currently sitting at his desk, fighting a kage's worst enemy; paperwork. He could stand toe to toe with some of the world's strongest shinobi in his prime, yet he would always lose to the damned paperwork. He had begged Kami to make the paper relent, but alas, it was not to be. He had a passing thought on Naruto's reaction to his attack a few days ago, or at least the lack there of. The boy hadn't reacted at all, it showed how often these events happened to the boy. He decided to put the work off for a bit and check on Naruto. It was around ten in the morning, he should be up.

He pulled the crystal ball out of a large drawer in his desk, performed a short stream of hand seals and spoke the name 'Naruto'. The inside of the ball went from a dull blue color to a dark purple cloud. The cloud opened to reveal the redhead in his apartment, wearing the civilian black sweatshirt and tan pants he had bought for the boy's birthday. He saw the boy walk over and start...placing some rocks in a backpack. 'What on earth are you doing?' the old man thought.

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><p><span><strong>Naruto<strong>

Naruto finished packing the bag and put it on. He walked around, getting a feel for the weight. '_Kurama-sensei, how far do you want me to run with this on?' _Naruto thought to his tenant.

"**As far as you can go, you said you wanted to be a shinobi, right? That path in life starts here, great shinobi are defined by how much they train and better themselves, as well as the actions they take. I have a large number of exercises for you to work on, most of them-for now- will be stretches. Later I plan to have you work on muscle building exercises. As for now… GET RUNNING KIT" **Kurama growled back, he needed to see what the kid could do now, before anything.

**Flashback:The night before**

'Kurama, I want to be a shinobi' Naruto thought while brushing his teeth.

"**You do? Why?" **The great demon asked, curious.

'Because I want to be strong, I don't want to be hurt again: I want be able to beat my enemies before they have a chance to hurt me. Will you teach me?' Naruto answered, staring into the sink.

"**Are you forgetting that was part of our deal kit? I remember saying that I planned on training you anyway" **Kurama chuckled.

**Flashback End**

"Haa haa, that's… it, I can't run...anymore" Naruto said aloud as he lay in a heap on the ground. He was in the middle of an empty street, he didn't know where, but he wasn't really paying attention to that anyway.

'**That was impressive, he ran almost three miles, and that bag weighs close to forty pounds- doubling his weight- you have given me plenty to work with Naruto' **Kurama thought before saying "**That is plenty enough, Naruto, however, I heard something a ways back, when you went through those bushes to avoid those men fighting. When you're ready, I want you to go look through those bushes again."**

'But I don't remember where that was' Naruto wheezed as he pulled himself up.

"**Oh come on, it was only a few streets back, on the left, it had a red bush in front, remember now?" **Kurama asked.

'Yes, but why, what did you hear?'

"**I could've sworn I heard the sound of you stopping on wood…I think you may have found-" **Kurama was cut off.

"Naruto, what are you doing running with a bag full of rocks?" An old voice asked. It was a voice Naruto knew well.

"Jiji!" Naruto whipped around, his energy seemingly restored "I'm running so I can get stronger. Hey Jiji, can you put me in the Shinobi Academy? PLEASE?" Naruto used his 'Puppy Eyes' jutsu, pleading to be enrolled.

The Third chuckled "Naruto, i've already enrolled you, I was going to tell you on your birthday, but we both know how that turned out, " Hiruzen smiled at the reaction that the news brought to the boy.

"YEAH! Woohoo" Naruto cheered. He was going to the Academy, and now nothing could stop him from becoming a shinobi.

Suddenly a figure appeared, kneeling next to the Third, clad in grey body armor. The figure stood, revealing an anbu black ops mask. The mask was that of an inu. The anbu member had silver gravity defying spikes of hair. His entire outfit consisted of: a sleeveless black shirt under his armor, grey arm guards, black anbu pants and black ninja sandals. He had a kunai knife pouch on his right thigh, and a standard anbu ninja-to strapped to his back.

"Lord Hokage, your presence is being requested for a council meeting" Inu said, never moving from his kneeling position

"Very well, thank you for letting me know, Inu, you are dismissed" The Third responded, it was gonna be a long day. The anbu performed a shunshin and vanished in a swirl of leaves. "Naruto it looks like I will have to be going now, have a good day" The Third said before he left via another shunshin, a gentle smile on his face.

"**Naruto, we need to get back to the matter at hand" **Kurama reminded Naruto. Said boy simply nodded his head in recognition before continuing on his way.

He eventually found the street corner with the red colored bush. He remembered running behind it to avoid the arguing fruit stand venders. There were pulp stains on the ground where the two men probably threw their produce at each other. His eye began to twitch comically. Honestly, adults could be more immature than children. He thought it funny that a mere three days ago, he would've never thought about that.

He noticed his thought patterns had changed over the past couple of days, he had always been smart. His 'mask' was his greatest accomplishment. His ability to hide his pain, letting no one inside had been his safest course of action. Before, he didn't have the power to protect himself, now that was beginning to change. Now he didn't have to hide, he would rise up above his pain, the hatred of the villagers: he would surpass them all. He would become his own person, no one would be able to stop him, he would forge his own path in life.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Kurama getting impatient. He walked around the red bush, and began crawling around on the ground, searching for whatever his sensei thought he heard. Tapping the ground near where he had run through, Naruto closed his eyes and listened for the sound of hitting wood. After slowly crawling through half of the bushes, his fist made contact with something, he recoiled from the little bit of pain. Rubbing his hand to clean the dirt, and to soothe the twinge of pain, Naruto began to look at what he hit. He saw the edge of something circular, he dug his fingers under the…wood, he found it! The wood was painted very carefully to look He slowly lifted the circular wooden slab to reveal a ladder leading down. 'Kurama, should I go down there?' Naruto asked.

"**I don't see why not, lets see where it goes" ** Said fox replied.

Naruto removed the lid from the hole and stood at the top of the latter, he noticed a faint light, so he decided to replace the slab in it's original position. He climbed down about ten feet before his foot slipped a rung and he fell the last two feet, landing on his back. Regaining his breath, Naruto made a mental note to keep getting used to his new height. He stood up and turned to face a dimly lit hallway. Curious, he slowly made his way down the hall, he rounded a corner on his left and immediately saw stairs going down. He thanked Kami that there was more light at this point, as he proceeded down the steps. He noticed that he kept making right turns, he was going straight down.

After what felt like forever, Naruto found what seemed like a large training ground. It was perfectly lit, he noticed, so he looked up...at the sky. How was there a sky underground, he was in the middle of Konoha? He was pretty sure that he would've noticed a giant hole in the middle of the village. On the left end of the training ground there was a small forest, proceeding right, the was a small lake, then a rocky hill peaked in snow, before a small rocky plain, and finally a small desert. It was a strange thing, seeing so many different biomes in one place. The shape of the grounds appeared to be a giant rectangle.

"**It would be impossible for us to be in the middle of Konoha kit, if i remember right, we were fairly close to the plateau that holds the Hokage Monument, we are probably under it"** Kurama told Naruto. It was true, Naruto had been running somewhat towards the Hokage administration building.

"Yeah, that would make more sense, but that can't really be the sky, we're way too far underground, right?" Naruto questioned. It seemed like he was miles below the surface.

" **I don't know, it probably isn't, this seems like a form of unnatural light to me. But this find gives us a great opportunity to begin physical, as well as mental training. You may take the bag off now" **Naruto quickly did so, relieved to finally take the heavy thing off. "**Now walk over to the forest and climb up one of the short trees" **Kurama waited until Naruto was safely straddling one of the sturdy branches. "**Cross your legs...good, now close your eyes, stay in balance, clear your mind, let nothing trouble you, breathe deeply and slowly, now think of this place, let yourself slip into the depths of your mind"** Kurama coached.

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><p><strong>Inner World<strong>

Naruto slowly started to fade into existence inside his inner world, he was in front of Kurama's cage. Great, big crimson eyes opened, they stared into the boy's own purple.

"**Naruto, I would like to train you inside your mind as you sleep, in order to do that, you must be able to enter this place of your own will. You will also have to let me out of this cage- by changing your mindscape itself. I don't wish to stay in this sewer anyway." ** Kurama explained. It would be very hard to train his prisoner while still in the cage.

"How am I going to do that? Naruto inquired, he couldn't exactly do something that he didn't know how to.

"**All you have to do is create an area by thinking of how you want this world to be, then you have to transfer the seal to something I can wear in my human form"** The demon answered.

Naruto sat down and began to concentrate, his eyebrows scrunched in exertion, his jaw tense, and then the world began to change. The ground they were standing on shifted and turned into dirt, the water in the sewer sunk into the dirt and suddenly grass grew. The walls of the sewer began to slide into the ground, eventually disappearing completely. The bars of the cage fell through the dirt, vanishing as well, the two now stood in an immense plain. Giant trees began to grow as soon as the sun appeared in the sky, forming an immense square cage. Small patches of flowers, some large rocks, and a pond formed the finishing touches to the entirely new world.

Naruto was panting and sweating profusely, Kami that was tiring. He looked around, admiring his handiwork, but then he noticed the lack of a certain giant orange fox. He looked around, not finding his sensei anywhere, until someone tapped his shoulder. He whipped around, and found himself having to look up at a man. He was amazed of his size, he was probably a little over six feet. His attire consisted of a large red kimono and sandals. The kimono had black flame designs that outlined foxes on his arms, as well as the kanji for 'Fox' surrounded by black flames above his heart. The man's eyes were what gave his identity away. They were the same blood red eyes, and the same slit pupil, it was unmistakable.

"Kurama? That is your human form?" Naruto asked, blinking repeatedly.

"**Yes, it is, I don't usually take the time to transform into this body, so you should be glad you are one of the few to see it. But forget that for now, it is time to begin"** Kurama replied. Naruto noticed that his sensei's voice wasn't as deep and gravelly as in his true form. He hadn't expected such a drastic change, as now the voice was that of young man: smooth and warming.

Kurama seemed to focus deeply for a few moments, before a leather bound book appeared within his hand.

"**You are going to read the first two chapters in this book, the book itself contains my knowledge on chakra and youki,-the human and demon forms of power- and after you finish those chapters I will quiz you on what you have learned. I have diluted it down so that you may have a better understanding. Any questions?" **Kurama asked as he handed Naruto the large book Naruto shook his head 'no'. He had learned how to read on his own, a testament to his intelligence, and it took him quite a while, but he did so by sneaking into the library and looking at children's learning books. "**Then you'd better get to reading" **Kurama gently laughed as Naruto sighed in joy, he must've been running on his last legs by now he thought. It was actually somewhat surprising to see how much exertion the boy could go through and still stand.

Naruto walked over to a large boulder that was jutting out of the ground, climbed it, and sat down on top of the rock. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his sensei sit down and begin to meditate.

He told himself to focus, and opened the book. His eyes slowly read over the words written, understanding the theories and purposes of chakra. Chakra was the essence of life in all living beings, and was an absolute necessity for life. It is created and stored within a non-physical place inside the body called the chakra coils. Chakra was made up of two individual energies combined into one; physical energy, and spiritual energy. Physical energy was improved through intense training and harnessing of the power of the body. At the same time, spiritual energy was the energy that flowed within the soul and the mind, and could thus be improved through meditation. When these energies combined, they formed chakra, a non-physical power that could be used to alter the environment, strengthen the body, or shadow the minds of others.

Kurama had a theory about spiritual energy, though, if physical energy could be used alone, then could spiritual energy be used alone as well? He would have to look into it. Now he had to move into the second chapter, which, he noted, was somewhat shorter.

Youki, the demonic version of chakra, was just as necessary for life, but not for humans, youki was for demons. Youki was an energy that was naturally produced by any being that carried demonic DNA. Youki was strengthened the same ways as chakra, however, youki is, at it's strongest, roughly four times the strength of normal chakra. It is also noted that youki is corrosive and harmful to humans that haven't built up a tolerance to it. The only known beings that could do such a thing are children with demons sealed into them within five hours after birth. The chakra coils are still forming at that time and can expand to accommodate the demonic energy that is forced inside. Those children that harbor the demons within their chakra coils are commonly referred to as "Jinchuuriki", meaning "power of human sacrifice". Truthfully, the sealing of a demon within a child can be done with any demon, but only ten demons have ever been recorded as sealed. Those demons are the nine individual biju, as well as their combined form-the Juubi.

Naruto closed the book, and sat there, still and thinking. He had read about the three basic uses for chakra and youki, Ninjutsu: the use of chakra or youki to manipulate nature and physical entities. Taijutsu: melee combat with our without chakra or youki used to strengthen the body and reflexes, and Genjutsu: the use of chakra or youki to fog one's mind and alter the senses. The book contained knowledge about other types of jutsu, kenjutsu, kinjutsu, and fuinjutsu, and iaijutsu, but they were less detailed. Kenjutsu and iaijutsu were both formulated around sword combat. Kenjutsu being sword combat itself, and iaijutsu was the technique of drawing the blade and attacking in the same motion. Kinjutsu were techniques that were considered outlawed and extremely dangerous. They were outlawed for various reasons: potentially dangerous chakra usage, the jutsu itself was immoral, or because they caused large amounts of collateral damage.

"**You look to be about done processing all that information, are you ready for my quiz?"** Kurama asked, standing behind Naruto, and received a nod. "**Good, now, name three different types of ninjutsu"**

"Futon: wind release, Katon: fire release, and Raiton: lightning release" Naruto immediately answered.

"**Which is stronger, chakra or youki? And by how much? Which one is easier to train and acquire more of?"**

"Youki is stronger than chakra by about four times as much, but chakra levels are easier to improve"

"**What are chakra coils?"**

"Chakra coils are storage tanks for chakra inside the body"

"**Are chakra coils physically inside the body?"**

"No, chakra coils are non-physical"

"**What are the points where chakra is released from the body called?**

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. 'What were they called? I can't remember'

"**It seems as if i'm going to have to help you improve your memory, they're called 'Tenketsu' and there are three hundred and sixty-one of them along the chakra pathway system that is linked to the chakra coils"** Kurama explained to Naruto. He had been recently noticing Naruto's lack of good memory. Naruto seemed to be able to retain most information, however there were also key things that he could miss or forget. It was apparent earlier when Naruto couldn't remember the red bush that he had passed only minutes before. It would be greatly beneficial to be able to have a sharp memory in any occupation, but it could very well save both their lives if Naruto didn't miss a single thing: from memory or from his senses. Having a sharp mind as a shinobi is almost required to stay alive.

"**I believe I have found your major weakness, it's your memory"** Kurama stated "**That will be our major mental focus, our physical focus for now will be the toning and building of muscle. I need you to be strong and flexible for the things I want to teach you. When you wake up every morning, -which will be much earlier- I want you to do thirty sit-ups, thirty push-ups, and thirty squats. You will have to complete each set of thirty within two minutes, if you fail to complete them, you have to start over, and you will have ten seconds taken off your time limit. You will also be going for a run more often, every morning after your initial exercises. Finally, before you go to bed, I want you to do some stretches for ten minutes.**

"...You've got to be kidding me… I really have to do all that? Everyday?" Naruto asked, eyes twitching and his mouth agape, "That's insane!"

"**GROW UP AND DEAL WITH IT! THIS IS THE LIFE YOU WANTED, THIS IS THE LIFE OF THE SHINOBI, SO DON'T YOU DARE COMPLAIN"** Kurama angrily growled back, his eyes holding a controlled fury. Naruto looked toward the ground, and stood silent for little more than a minute.

"You're right, i'm sorry Kurama, I did want this, so yeah, heh heh, I have no reason to be a whiney child about it" Naruto's voice was somewhat deeper, and he spoke in a mature voice now. Suddenly he looked up to stare into his sensei's eyes, his own blazing with determination. "I'm not going to be a little baby anymore, I will take anything you can throw at me" Naruto finished, practically yelling. Kurama smirked.

"**Oh, is that so? Hmm hmm hmm, well we'll just have to see. Just you wait kit,with all the things I intend to throw at you, you'll be laying in a heap on the floor like earlier"** Kurama crossed his arms, amusedly wondering how the kid would keep to his statement in the future. Anyway Kurama began to feel that they had spent enough time in the underground training area, so he told Naruto to get ready to leave. As Naruto left the depths of his mind, Kurama told him to remember the route to the tunnel that led to the training grounds, as they would be coming back. The great demon was amused by his container's grumbles about dragging the backpack up the stairs, and outright laughed when he told Naruto that he could've just left it down there. It was quite funny the way the boy began to curse "sadistic old demons" before throwing the bag off. Naruto climbed out of the hole, and left for home. He had some cleaning to do.

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><p>And that is my second chapter, please leave a review. I'll try not to bore you with the build up to the academy stuff. And I want everyone to know that I will try to update every 3 weeks, and that my chapters will be roughly 3500 words. THANK YOU.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

I'm still asking for a beta reader, anyone interested? Anyone even reading this? -_- **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OTHER ANIME/MANGA I MAY OR MAY NOT USE IN THIS STORY.**

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><p>Kurama was actually quite surprised at Naruto's resilience and determination, every morning he would get up, do his exercises and then go for a run. The boy hadn't made a single complaint for two weeks. Even three days ago, when he upped the reps to forty in two minutes, and made his run distance a quarter mile longer, there wasn't a peep out of his mouth. It was, in short, astonishing. Naruto continued to impress.<p>

Said boy was just getting back to his apartment, sweaty as hell from his run. He really decided to push himself this morning, he even jogged half the way back. He walked towards his bedroom, ripped off his clothes and threw them in his hamper. Then he walked into his bathroom, which was right across the hall, and began getting ready for a shower. He turned it on, waited for the water to get warm, and stepped in, sighing as the water his achy and sore body.

When he got out, he dried off with his rag of a towel, it was supplied by the owner of the complex. After he was dry, he went to his bedroom and picked out an outfit he had his Jiji buy him. It consisted of a black shirt with the Konoha symbol in orange on the back, a pair of black pants, and a black sleeveless coat with orange trim. The coat was almost an adult size, but he liked the way it went down to his knees, he thought it looked cool.

When he was done getting dressed, Kurama spoke to him.

"**It is time that I teach you a jutsu, Naruto"** The demonic man stated, he had decided it would be easier to just remain in his human form, he had forgotten how different it was. He would need to get stronger in his human form as well, he wouldn't want to be surprised if he had to fight in it someday. His human body was quicker, and he remained quite strong, but he lacked the power to summon his tails and enter his hybrid form.

"Really, awesome" Naruto jumped up and down twice, only to groan in pain. Walking over to his bed, Naruto sat down and began to meditate.

**Inner World**

Within seconds he began to fade into his mind.

"What jutsu is it? What does it do?" Naruto quickly asked, excited. However Kurama had other plans.

"**Ahhh, but first, how is your chakra control?"** He asked the boy, laughing internally.

"It's a… bit below what you wanted heh heh heh…" Naruto's voice dropped off at the end.

"**Well now, I can't go teaching you a jutsu when you do not posses the proper control for it"** Naruto began to get frustrated when his sensei told him that.

"You've got to be kidding me! Why did you even have me come in here then?! Teach me the jutsu anyway, i'll show you I can still use it-without the 'proper' control" The boy was beginning to get annoying. Kurama walked over to the boy, and picked him up from his armpits. He held him at eye level.

"**Fine, i'll teach you the jutsu, but you need to know something. I have no doubts that you can perform the jutsu, it's just that I think you lack the control to use it correctly and efficiently. It is called the 'Henge no jutsu', meaning transformation. I picked this jutsu because it is a relatively difficult start for a beginning shinobi. The technique requires a constant supply of chakra, as well as a constant mental picture to maintain the form. Do you understand?"** Kurama was wondering how long it would take for the boy to be able to use it.

"So I have to keep my chakra flowing, while focusing on the form I want to stay in, and i'm guessing I have to push chakra out of all of my tenketsu?" He was glad to have paid attention during all of Kurama's explanations on how to use chakra. Grasping the theories very quick, Naruto had been using chakra for about a week now, focusing it and moving it around and through his body. Now it was time to test himself.

"**Yes, all of your tenketsu must be pushing out chakra, too much and the form will distort, but not enough and the form will be too thin and blurry." **Kurama explained, "**The hand signs are: Dog, Boar, and Ram, now I want you to try to transform into me"** '**This way you don't have to try to remember every detail'** He finished in thought.

Naruto repeated the hand signs without applying chakra, so he could remember them. It would also allow him to focus more on the transformation itself. He repeated the signs one more time. He breathed deeply, the eyes of his sensei studying his actions. Focusing chakra, he began to perform the signs: 'Dog, Boar, Ram' he chanted in his mind. Adding the chakra to the signs he performed the jutsu.

"Henge no jutsu!" he called out. A great plume of smoke suddenly exploded from the boy. The smoke cleared, and Kurama gazed upon...a short, grotesquely deformed version of himself. Naruto had applied far too much chakra, as the from shimmered and constantly warped uncontrollably. Kurama's eye began to twitch. Such a horrible transformation. It appeared they had much left in the department of chakra control.

"**As I said, you don't have the necessary control to perform the tech...hmm?"** Kurama began, he was interrupted however, as the henge transformed again, and became somewhat more like him. It was still nowhere near a perfect transformation, but without any coaching, Naruto had made progress already. "**I can at least give you points for effort Kit, but you still lack control, so because we have only worked on controlling the flow of chakra inside you, we are going to start using chakra outside the body. Have you, perchance, heard of the 'Leaf Balancing' exercise?"** The demonic man asked. Naruto, who gave up trying to use the technique without further coaching, absently shook his head 'no'. He appeared to be deep in focus. Kurama deadpanned, "**Are you even listening to me?"**.

"Yes, sorry, I was trying to figure out how I could improve my control" Naruto responded, "but what about leaf balancing?"

"**Leaf balancing is one of the simplest control exercises, all you need is a leaf"** As Kurama explained, Naruto went and plucked a leaf from one of the nearby trees he grew. "**Then you place it on your forehead and use chakra to make the leaf stay there. This takes concentration, as well as patience, because I will let you practice the jutsu until you can make the leaf stay for thirty seconds" **The man said, thinking about a way to improve the speed of the training, but also reluctant to use it.

After a total of one hour and twenty minutes, Naruto made the leaf stay. It was only for about three seconds, but it was progress. Kurama smiled at that, he might be able to wait. But then, Naruto began to hold the leaf up, and held it for no longer than the first time, he may be able to make it stick, but he couldn't keep it there. Three hours later, Kurama began to lose his patience, perhaps it was because it was impossible to meditate when there was a six year old constantly grunting in annoyance every time he failed to keep the leaf there.

"**All right, enough. I have a way that will drastically speed up your progress"** Kurama sighed.

"How?" Naruto desperately questioned, Kurama wasn't the only one who was getting annoyed.

"**It is another jutsu…"**

"But I probably don't have the control to use it" Naruto interrupted him

"**AS I WAS SAYING"** Kurama irritatedly growled, "**It's another jutsu, however, you don't need to have almost any control over your chakra, all you need is a lot of it. It is called the Shadow Clone jutsu, it creates a solid-bodied clone that can do all the same things as the original. The main difference between this and other solid-bodied clone techniques is that all the memories of the clones are transferred back to its user…"** Naruto interrupted him again.

"Which would let me know what i'm doing wrong faster, so then it would let me improve faster as well!" Naruto beamed.

"**..."** Kurama simply glared at his student. "**STOP INTERRUPTING ME!"** He growled out. It took him a bit to calm down. "**The shadow clone jutsu has a special hand sign, take both hands and make half ram signs. Now cross them… No, right hand pointed up and left hand crossed behind it. There, get used to that sign, now, focus the chakra into your hands while thinking of exact copies of you."** Kurama instructed.

Naruto took a second to get used to the feel as his sensei told him before he focused his chakra and called out "Shadow clone jutsu!". Multiple clouds of smoke appeared. When they cleared they revealed a perfect- original -Naruto and three pale, gasping Naruto's on the ground.

"**Okay… well it appears that they don't have lungs… I want you to picture there being just more of yourself appearing out of that smoke: capable of doing all the same things as you"** Kurama clarified, Naruto had grasped the simple theory, he at least made the clones. All that was needed now was detail. The clones dispersed and now the original was on the ground, gasping for air. "**That will take time to get over… the recoil I mean"** The demonic man stated. Unfortunately the drawback of the technique was just as such: there was a recoil, if the clone gets seriously injured, the mind could temporarily shut down from the trauma.

"**The only way for that to be lessened is with time, the brain will eventually register that it isn't the body actually taking damage"** Kurama told Naruto, who was getting up and about to perform the jutsu again.

"Shadow clone jutsu" Naruto called, and multiple puffs of smoke appeared again. This time the clones were able to breathe, but they were also slightly discolored. The attention to detail was quickly improving. Naruto began to practice while his sensei watched his improvements. Every time the clones appeared more and more akin to the original. There was still an ocean of difference between them, at least to kurama. He could tell the various ways the chakra flowed in the clones and in Naruto. The chakra flows differently because it is also used to keep the clone's structure. The body is a flesh and blood entity that doesn't need chakra to support its form. He could sense the way the chakra formed a shell that made the body's form in each clone. Skilled users could manipulate that chakra into a form that is almost impossible to sense, even by sensor type ninja. With Naruto, a beginning user, the difference was night and day.

"**That will be enough, I believe that they can now aid your progress, so keep working on the leaf balancing, and once you can hold them for thirty seconds, I want you to add leaves"** Kurama instructed, before walking a ways away to go and meditate. Naruto immediately set out to making clones. He made exactly twenty clones. Splitting them apart into groups of five, with a chosen leader, Naruto himself began to practice. After a short while, his sensei came over.

"**Kit, i'm sensing someone approaching your location, they are inside the apartment, you need to leave, now!"** His sensei warned him. Somewhat saddened that he couldn't continue practice Naruto stood and faded away; thus, the clones also disappeared.

**Real World**

Naruto 'woke up' from his deep meditation, only to hear someone knocking on his bedroom door. He got up and walked to the door, and heard a familiar voice.

"Naruto? My boy, may I come in, I want to take you shopping for the start of the Academy, if that would be alright with you?" The voice of one Hiruzen Sarutobi gently spoke to his adoptive grandson.

"Jiji! I always wanna spend time with you!" Naruto said as he opened his door, "but where? And shopping for what?" he added as an afterthought.

"We'll go through the market of course, and your ninja tools and clothes, your civilian clothes can't stand the wear and tear of a ninja lifestyle. I have a check list for you, let's go before it hits high noon" Hiruzen stated as he held a piece of paper up. 'High noon' Naruto thought 'I must've been meditating for longer than I thought'. Hiruzen handed the paper to Naruto, who read it. The list was made up of: ninja clothes sets (3), Kunai (15), Shuriken (30), ninja sandals, fishnet under armor, and two books, one on chakra control and the other on ninja skills and basics. There was also an allowance for one shinobi item of choice.

"**I would like you to get a sword as your choice item, I would like to teach you a couple of kenjutsu styles in the future. In order to do that, I need you to be familiar with swinging a sword, you may pick whatever type of blade you wish, as long as it is comfortable for you"** Kurama added. If he learned with a blade now, he would better handle them in the future. Naruto held that thought as he and his Jiji walked out of the apartment and began down the street. Naruto noticed that the people would look at his Jiji out of respect, before glancing at him with hateful dark eyes. It seemed that word about his new looks spread around, but they wouldn't dare try anything with the Hokage around, so he was safe for the moment.

They rounded a corner to a civilian market dominated street, this confused Naruto. They were looking for ninja weapons so why go to a normal market. Hiruzen led Naruto towards a small, normal shop. It had simple, unpainted oak planks, and a collapsible stand jutted out from the wall near the door. The other side of the door had windows that went all the way to the edge of the building and partially around, showing the mysterious, unidentifiable merchandise inside. The building had an angular roof covered in dark stained clay shingles. There was a simple sign that hung above the door, it read 'Ama Shōten'. Hiruzen stepped forward and opened the door and let Naruto pass by. The look on the boy's face was that of great confusion. Ama Shōten was a candy store. A candy store, Naruto whirled around at Hiruzen.

"Why are we here?! This is just a candy store" Naruto deadpanned as a bulky man walked up.

"So this is Naruto, right Hokage-sama?" The man stated, his voice deep and almost as gravelly as Kurama in his beast form. His eyes and hair shared a deep shade of brown, and his skin held a somewhat dark tan. He was tall and built like a fortress, he looked like he could throw a horse to the ground. He wore a simple outfit consisting of shoes, brown pants, a grey shirt and an apron. The apron had stains on it that looked like those gained in the process of making candy. Naruto felt that there was something wrong with those stains though...like it wasn't really...real. 'Is that a Henge?' he asked himself.

"Yes Koga, it is Naruto, we're here for your 'Restricted Sweets' section" Hiruzen smiled.

"Ahh, well then you'll be glad to know I just finished a new batch, anyway, hello Naruto, I am Koga Ama, the owner of this shop, we sell candy of all kinds" he laughed as he led them towards the back of the store, "for shinobi and civilian alike. You are welcome to my shop anytime, and my prices will always be just, I hope that after you see my goods you will come to do business with me again. Now come" Koga firmly stated, albeit his voice was jovial.

Koga brought them to a door, saying that it lead into his home. As they walked in, Koga called to his wife to watch the store for a while. Naruto wondered where it was they were going. He turned to ask his Jiji, but all he did was smile and tell him to be patient. Eventually they made it to a small square room. There was a short, round table that was meant to be sat around, based on the mats around its edge. Koga picked up and moved the table, while Hiruzen shuffled the mats away with his feet. Koga leaned down and revealed a circular hole not unlike the one he found the training ground under. It was when Koga leaned down that Naruto noticed that the 'candy stains' he saw on the apron earlier were now black. They were burns.

Koga climbed down a newly revealed ladder into a hot abyss. His Jiji quickly followed, stopping to gesture for Naruto to come. When the boy's foot hit the ground- which took quite a while -he looked around at the shop within a shop. It wasn't candy on the shelves. It was a myriad of deadly weapons of kinds he recognised and of those he didn't. There were sets of clothes that hung from the left wall inside the rather large room, as well as a few scrolls on some shelves. 'Most likely for taijutsu and kenjutsu' Naruto thought.

"Well, what do you think, all of them are my works...except for the clothes...I never got the hang of that, but all the metalwork is mine. Have a look around" Koga cheerfully said in an almost childish fashion.

"Let's look for your weapons and pouches first Naruto" Hiruzen directed Naruto towards the weapon racks. Naruto walked up to a shelf that had traditional four point shuriken and kunai and helped his Jiji gather the required amount on the list. Naruto looked to the sword racks.

"It would be so cool if I had a sword…" Naruto pretended to pout.

"Well let's have a look then" Hiruzen smiled. They looked at the swords and saw that most all of them were far too long for Naruto to correctly wield, but then Koga walked up and offered to forge Naruto a blade that was more akin to Naruto. Koga asked for Naruto to come see him when they were finished picking up their items. With their weapons taken care of they walked to the apparel section and grabbed a pouch to hold the shuriken and some kunai, as well as a holster for the rest. While Naruto looked through the sets of clothes, Hiruzen went and grabbed some rolls of medical tape. When he came back Naruto had picked out his outfits. They each consisted of: a sleeveless black shirt, a grey and blue coat that hung down to his calves, and black pants. He also had a metal arm guard for the left hand, shin guards, and a leather throwing knife holster to go on the chest. After three minutes of consecutive begging, Naruto convinced the third to buy him the five throwing knives that could be held on the chestpiece.

They soon went over to Koga, who had been reading a weapon magazine behind the counter, to purchase all the items. After that, Koga brought Naruto into another room behind the door, the room had a small pedestal. Koga had Naruto take his sandals off and then began to take the boy's measurements: arm length vs overall height, swing radius and arm span. Then he asked Naruto on how he was going to use it in battle: one hand or two hand, left or right, quick strikes or long swings, and he asked if Naruto wanted a straight blade or a curved one.

"I want a straight blade that can be used with my right hand, mostly one handed, for quick strikes and swings" Naruto responded with what he thought was going to be the most comfortable.

There shopping for shinobi gear done, they left the store with all of the items sealed inside a scroll that Hiruzen also bought, they headed to a bookstore. As they walked, Hiruzen lit his pipe and began to smoke.

When they arrived at the bookstore Hiruzen stood outside to extinguish his pipe, he told Naruto to go in ahead. When Naruto walked in, a worker behind the counter talked to him.

"Welc-Hey it's you, what the fu-" The man started, but what interrupted when Hiruzen walked in.

"Sorry to keep you waiting my boy, now" he turned to the man, "why are you yelling at a child?" Hiruzen asked.

"I...uh I was… um"

"Is there a manager here?" Hiruzen questioned.

"Well yes, but…" the man nervously said.

"Call him out, now" Hiruzen growled. He turned to Naruto as the man walked into the back to call his manager, "You go have a look around for those books, alright Naruto, i'll handle this" Hiruzen gently commanded. Naruto nodded and walked through the hallways formed by bookcases, eventually finding the 'Ninja' section. As he looked he drowned out the sound of his Jiji arguing with the men, and he found a book on the list, _Chakra Control: Book 1_. He looked toward the top shelves and found the other one, _The Basic skills of Shinobi_. He walked back with the books in hand. The man who yelled at him was gone, and the manager looked apologetic.

"Naruto it looks like this shop is offering you those books as compensation for the treatment that man gave you earlier, so you can have them for free. Let's go" Hiruzen calmly said, before turning and walking out. Naruto stood there for a second, thinking, he was being given these books, but he saw the look on the man's face, he didn't hate him. Naruto walked up to the man, took out his frog wallet- gama-chan- and pulled out the little money he had and gave it to the man, before walking out.

When he walked up to his Jiji the man said that it was time to go home because it was about 4 in the afternoon. Hiruzen walked him home and visited until an an anbu, sent by his assistant, called him back to his office to do paperwork. The paleness of his Jiji's face when he heard the word paperwork made Naruto laugh until his stomach hurt. For the rest of the night, Naruto read the books that he got and tried on his new gear to get accustomed to the feel. He would've stayed up the entire night if Kurama hadn't told him to go to bed.

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><p>I'm sorry for posting this a bit late, but... I've had stuff to do, and that stuff didn't give me time to type as often as I would've liked. Oh well, I still got this done so that's something. Please leave a <span><strong>REVIEW<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

STOP THE HEARSE, I AIN'T DEAD YET!

Now that I have your attention...I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for this chapter, but I… uh… I got lost on the road of life.

I would like to thank those that took the time to give me a review, I greatly appreciate it. **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OTHER ANIME/MANGA I MAY OR MAY NOT USE IN THIS STORY.**

**NOTICE:** Naruto is three years older than the anime, meaning he is in a different graduating class and that the teams were all born around three years AFTER the kyuubi attack, besides team Gai, they were born only two years after. Another thing, Naruto's hair is has roughly the same appearance as ichigo's black getsuga. His hair is such a **dark shade of red** that it appears black unless it is shined on by some sort of light source. That is when his hair reveals a red tint- like the outline of the black getsuga. Hopefully this clears up any confusion.

On with the story

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><p>"NARUTO! PAY ATTENTION" a man with a brown pineapple head of hair yelled, his head seemingly multiplying in size. The class laughed at him because he was yelled at by Iruka-sensei, he didn't care. But it seemed he'd been reminiscing a bit too deeply.<p>

"Gomen Iruka-sensei, it wont happen again" Naruto appologised while slightly smirking.

"I don't believe you, you better be prepared for your finals Naruto, if not you'll fail" Iruka smirked, they both knew that he wouldn't, he was the best of the class- at least in the shinobi department. Naruto was the dead last of the class in terms of grades, mostly because he didn't pay attention, at least that's what Iruka thought, but his skills as a shinobi would be enough to bring his score into the passing numbers. Naruto was choosing to fail, so that anyone that learns of his grades will underestimate him. They would think him weak, and that is a flaw he will exploit. That is why he is strong.

Iruka turned away, smiling, and continued his last lecture for this class. He walked down the steps from Naruto's seat, he was sitting in the top row, to the teaching area at the front of the room. As he walked, he reminded his students to be close with their comrades because they could very well save their lives one day.

Iruka walked to his desk and grabbed the final exam and walked around passing it to the students. As Naruto received his test he noticed Mizuki, the assistant sensei, giving him a look of hate. It looked like Mizuki was up to something, but for now it was impossible to figure out, so Naruto simply worked on the test for the time being. He answered in ways that allowed him to pass, but only by the smallest of margins so he could get the title of dead last.

With the written exam done, Iruka led the class outside for the weapons proficiency examination.

Each student was given 10 shuriken and kunai knives, they had to throw all of them and hit all the bullseyes at various distances to achieve the highest grade. There were a few students that he actually watched perform: Ryuu, Katashi, and Chika. He never learned any of their surnames, he didn't even know if they had any, but they knew how to wield the blades, most of the other students still fidgeted with uncertainty. Those three didn't, they held the blades with confidence, assured the sharp edge with find its target. They achieved the highest scores, so far.

"Naruto Uzumaki" Iruka read off his clipboard as said boy stood. Naruto walked to the table that held the weapons, as he grabbed them he mentally prepared his throw. '_Wind speed...3 mph, strength… 4 to 8… screw it, 10, show offness… 10 heh heh, I'm gonna give 'em a sh-"_

"**Hurry up and throw dammit!"** Kurama interrupted, clearly impatient.

'_I WAS GETTING TO THAT' _Naruto mentally yelled back to his demonic sensei. Showing no signs of his internal argument, Naruto faced the class and grabbed the kunai. He stood and mentally counted down. Finishing, the dark redhead spun and let loose all 10 of his kunai, which easily impaled their individual target. With the first set of targets done, Naruto continued the spin, grabbing the set of shuriken for his last targets. He held 8 between his fingers, and the last 2 were held down against his palm with his middle finger. He threw the 8 that were ready in seemingly random directions, crossing his arms in the process, and flicked his wrists to ready up the final shuriken. He uncrossed his arms and in doing so, threw the blades at the furthest targets. He had timed it so that all the blades hit at almost the exact same time, and they did, as a very quick series of thuds echoed throughout the woods toward the academy grounds. The class sat in awe on the wooden bleachers, even Iruka was shocked at the display of skill.

With his work done, Naruto simply walked back toward the class and sat down. He simply waited for Iruka to write his score on the clipboard start the taijutsu exam.

Iruka began calling out two names at a time, chosen at random. Naruto didn't really pay attention to many students, but Ryuu and another student named Rei appeared to have a slightly higher grasp of the art. They both beat their opponents in a quick, but powerful way. Rei grabbed a kick thrown at her midsection before throwing a palm at her opponent's face, knocking him out. Ryuu jumped over a sloppy sweep kick and in the process spun and kicked his opponent in the chest, knocking him down. While he tried to get up, Ryuu dove and pinned his opponent before throwing a myriad of punches, knocking him out.

Soon it was his turn, and his opponent was another boy, a Hyuuga boy by the look in his eyes. He had to prepare for their signature jabs and quick strikes, but that was no matter, as the look of overconfidence in those same eyes would be his undoing. As they both entered the mock arena, a simple flat rectangle of clay, he heard Ryuu say that the fight would be interesting.

"Are both fighters ready?" Iruka questioned, "Hajime!". And the fight began, yet neither fighter moved as both were biding their time to analyze each other's stance. The Hyuuga was in a sloppy Jyuken, while Naruto stood in a stance unfamiliar to everyone there. He was squatting on his left leg a bit, his right leg was outstretched toward his opponent, and his body was rotated to the left with his right arm bent in front of him, while his left arm was bent at a right angle, ready to guard his back if necessary.

"Come on, gutter trash, hit me... or did your parents teach you to be a coward before they were killed by the kyuubi?" the Hyuuga goaded...in the worst possible way. Naruto was silent as he exited his stance and held his face out of the Hyuuga's sight. To insult his unidentified parents… Now there was HELL TO PAY!

Any who knew Naruto, which, very few people did, would think his next actions strange and abnormal. He charged the Hyuuga, eyes lit with anger and determination. Said Hyuuga stepped forward and threw a palm strike at Naruto's approaching chest, but it was dodged, and countered. Naruto grabbed the boy's right wrist as it passed his sternum, as he did so he both twisted and pulled, breaking the wrist and dislocating the shoulder at the same time, and the boy began to scream in pain. Naruto was relentless, he twisted the arm behind the boy's back and lifted up, further increasing the pain. The Hyuuga fell to his knees. Naruto grabbed the left arm, before he placed his foot on the Hyuuga's back and pushed with his foot while pulling with his arms. The result was a crack from the left shoulder as it was dislocated as well. Naruto let go of his opponent and walked toward the bleachers, glancing back to see what he had done, his anger dissipated.

"...Um… Winner Naruto Uzumaki" Iruka called, but the other students, most of whom didn't hear what the Hyuuga said to set Naruto off, were afraid. They were very afraid of how violent Naruto was to his own classmate. No one cheered.

"How could you do that to Kaji-kun, you… you monster!" an apparent fangirl of Kaji's yelled. Naruto simply sat and watched Kaji be taken away toward the infirmary, an apologetic look in his amethyst eyes. '_I went too far… I still need to work on my anger over my parents… kuso…"_ Naruto solemnly thought.

"**It would seem so, but don't feel so down, he was taunting you so you would attack him, it's more his fault than yours"** The fox man concluded. "**Ahhhhhhh, now don't disturb me, I'm going to sleep"** He yawned.

'_You sleep more than anything now...'_ Naruto mentally deadpanned

"**When do you train in your head?"**

"_Sometimes after school and...oh, when I sleep, so you sleep half the day so you can train me at night...but wait, you trained me during night and day for three years before I started the Academy Why is it all of a sudden you have to sleep?'_

"**...Um, I have to hibernate… every few years"**

'_oh, really, well… um I have something to tell you'_

"**What?"**

'_FOXES DON'T HIBERNATE!'_

The last of the fights ended, and now it was time for the ninjutsu test, so Naruto absently followed the others back inside the classroom. He was going to be last, so he still had time to argue with his sensei, he sat in the back row of the room, like usual.

'_Now what are you doing in my head?'_

"**Nothing…"**

'_I'm coming in, and you better show me'_

"**Don't, it's a… um…'**

'_What?'_

"**Surprise, for your birthday"**

'_My birthday is months away… so what are you really doing?'_

"**Trying to get the damn dimensions right!"**

'_You're not... painting are you?'_

"**Ffffhahahahaha, me? Painting? No way in hell"**

'_...Fine, continue to make… whatever it is that you're making, but how are you going to hide it from me when I come in there…?'_

"**Like I have been"**

'_Alright then'_ it somewhat disturbed Naruto that something had been hidden inside his head, but let it go seeing as it was a present. Though he wondered what a nine thousand year old demon fox would give him, let alone make him for his birthday.

He didn't get much time to ponder it as Iruka popped his head into the room and called him to the testing room. He walked behind Iruka until they reached their destination, which was just around the corner. His sensei walked in first, followed by Naruto, who shut the door. He watched Iruka take a seat next to his other sensei, Mizuki.

"Please perform the Bunshin no jutsu, the Henge no jutsu, and the Kawarimi no jutsu, Naruto" Iruka said, slightly nervous about the bunshin technique.

"Gomen Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, but I can't perform the traditional Bunshin no jutsu because my chakra control isn't strong enough. May I perform a different Bunshin Jutsu?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes, you may, the curriculum states that each student must be able to perform a type of Bunshin, it is only recommended that it be the basic form" Iruka stated, reading the curriculum.

"Alright", Naruto made the familiar cross shaped sign, which both Iruka and Mizuki recognized, and called out, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!".

Multiple poofs of smoke appeared, and the room took a while to clear, but when it did, both sensei's were astounded, seven perfect copies of Naruto stood in front of them. They couldn't even tell which one was the original, at least until Naruto dispelled the jutsu.

"N-next the Henge, Naruto, of me, please" Iruka stumbled, for obvious reason: 1, that jutsu was A ranked, 2, it was forbidden because of the amount of chakra necessary, and 3 if Iruka performed it, he doubted he could make more than two without keeling over in exhaustion.

"Henge no jutsu!", making the sign, Naruto transformed in another explosion of smoke. Out of the smoke stood a second Iruka, scar on the nose, same hair tie, same knot in the headband, same height, it was a perfect Henge.

"And last, the Kawarimi" Iruka feigned calmness, when in reality, Naruto was surpassing almost every other student from every year on his perfection on the techniques. There was only one other person that surpassed Naruto in a Henge: Itachi Uchiha, and that was little more than half a decade ago.

Naruto formed a ram sign and whispered, "Kawarimi" before a poof of smoke appeared. Clearing, Iruka and Mizuki noticed that Naruto chose a chair as his replacement target. Mizuki noticed a note taped to the seat, so he went and picked it up.

"In the classroom, and bring the chair" Mizuki read off before looking toward Iruka, who nodded. Iruka walked out and went to the office for the headbands, while Mizuki brought the chair back to the classroom. When both teachers met back at the room, they looked through the door's window, only to find Naruto, henged as Iruka, teaching the class how to prank. This was further evidenced when Mizuki pushed the slightly open door and was drenched with water from a bucket.

"..." The class was silent as Mizuki stood, unmoving, his eyes out of sight.

"...NARUTO! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS YOU LITTLE PUNK!" Mizuki angrily began to chase naruto - who unhenged - around the room, yet the boy simply remained out of reach.

"Ahhhh Mizuki let him go, he was only having a little fun" Iruka struggled not to laugh at his long time friend.

After all was settled down… meaning Mizuki was put in a straight jacket so he could foam at the mouth in the corner… glaring at Naruto. Anyway, Naruto was given the black headband for being the top of the class, while the others received the traditional blue headbands. Iruka congratulated the class before sending them on their way, telling them to come back in three days for their team assignments.

Naruto was the first person to walk out of the academy, and the first to witness the large crowd of parents awaiting their children. Almost all of them gave him their eyes alit with hate, save the very few who, he noticed only did it to fit in. He hated those people most of all, those that didn't actually hate him, but acted like they did so they wouldn't get hurt. It was pathetic.

He walked around the crowd, ignoring the looks of adoration and love the parents gave their children the second they turned from him. Leaving the school area, and the green light districts in general, Naruto headed home.

As he neared his apartment he felt that something was… off. Utilizing his heightened sense of smell due to Kurama he noticed that the scent of a sakura candle was emanating off some people. He had a sakura candle in his small living room… and he was the only one he knew of that had that scent in half the district. His home had been broken into again.

'_Kurama?'_ He asked his tenant, who replied with a snore. '_So he's actually out this time, that's great' _Naruto thought as he climbed the stairs to his floor. He neared the door to his apartment, and his heightened sense of hearing picked up a couple footsteps from inside. '_Even better, someone just HAD to be in there' _The young teen grumbled in his head. Carefully walking inside without a sound he progressed his way through his home. Entering his bedroom he found a man setting a trap of some kind on his bed. He could've just knocked the man out, and thrown him on the street, but Naruto felt somewhat generous all of a sudden.

"Hey, um… you wanna get out of my apartment? Please?" Naruto asked, and the man responded by whipping around to face him. By the look on the man's face he was angry over something, and it wasn't exactly hard to guess what.

"DIE MONSTER!" the man roared before he charged at Naruto, kunai in hand "I WILL AVENGE THE YONDAIME!". '_Arrogant fool'_, generosity gone, Naruto reacted by grabbing the - obviously civilian - man's hand and ripping the knife from his grasp. Despite being unarmed, the man kept up his attack by throwing punches at Naruto, who kept dodging them.

After a short while, Naruto had enough and moved to pin the man, but was surprised when the man pulled another kunai, but Naruto managed to block it with the guard on his left arm.

"Enough!" Naruto said as he forcibly grabbed the man's hand and impaled it to his thigh with one of his throwing knives - so he wouldn't bleed out - and led the man outside. He pulled the blade out and threw him toward the staircase on the metal walkway, "get yourself to the hospital" he said, before walking inside and slamming his door.

Naruto walked around the corner to the sink, and washed the blade of blood. After the blade was clean, he replaced it in the holster on his chest and walked toward his room. Disengaging the 'trap', Naruto threw the pieces in the trash and laid in bed. He stared at the ceiling, wondering what to do, but then the same idea as always popped into his head; train.

Glancing toward the window next to his bed, he knew his exit, and he opened said window before looking all around for any witnesses. The alley was empty, he jumped on the windowsill and climbed out before closing the window. Using chakra like his sensei had taught him two years ago, Naruto began to vertically walk up the building. When he reached the roof he walked toward the edge across from where he climbed up. Looking toward his destination, Naruto jumped and landed on a building across the street, and from there he continued to run and jump from building to building. After only two minutes he reached the building he used as a marker. He jumped off toward the middle of an open street, and rolling as he landed, - like Kurama had taught him - Naruto walked from the twenty foot drop uninjured.

Walking toward the bushes, Naruto heard the caw of a crow. He whipped around and stared at the bird in the evening light, remembering his friends. '_Itachi-nii… Shisui-nii… I miss you both'_ the young teen thought sadly.

He climbed down the hatch he had grown so familiar with in the past years, this was his real home. Itachi and Shisui had helped him train, they had both called him 'little brother', but that was then, now Itachi's gone, and Shisui's dead. He had been there, on the night when Itachi changed everything.

Itachi… killed the entire clan… almost, a few were spared: Sasuke, Itachi's younger brother, Mikoto, their mother, and Shisui. Shisui wasn't in the Uchiha compound at that time, he had been treating Naruto to some ramen. Shisui had spoken of Ichiraku Ramen a couple of times, he really liked the place. They were just walking into the Uchiha compound when it happened.

**Flashback**

"So you liked it?" Shisui asked, smiling at his otouto.

"YES, RAMEN IS GREAT! Naruto yelled as they walked around the gate to the Uchiha compound.

"I'm glad you think so-oh my… kami… Naruto go, run for help, NOW!" Shisui went on high alert, and immediately ran to a person laying in a pool of what Naruto knew was not water.

Naruto ran, panic stricken toward the Hokage tower. His heart thundered in his chest as blood coursed through his veins. He made it to the tower in record time because he managed to successfully shunshin a couple times - just as Shisui had taught him. He ran through the hallway toward his Jiji's office.

Throwing the door open, Naruto called out to his grandfather figure, "The Uchiha compound is under attack, please, they need help!".

Despite his minor irritation that he was interrupted, Hiruzen stood and grabbed Naruto, before shunshining them away.

appearing under the Uchiha gate, they stood and surveyed the area. It began to rain. Hiruzen, who had been thinking about the situation was interrupted by the boy standing next to him.

"Come on, let's find Shisui-nii, he shouldn't be too far away" and with that, he ran off.

"Naruto! Wait" The Third called, but Naruto had no intentions of stopping until he found his brothers. Hiruzen gave chase, but stopped in his tracks a few seconds later. A scream, a very loud scream, that of a little boy. He rounded a corner and saw Naruto standing over a small body, and upon approach, Hiruzen saw that is was Sasuke Uchiha, and he also saw that he was alive. The boy seemed to be the one to have created the shout, but why? And the drag mark in the ground… Sasuke had been chasing something, and he had tripped when doing so. The Third concluded that sasuke had been knocked out by a genjutsu. He looked at Naruto… only to see the boy gone again. Naruto continued running, his eyes keenly aware of the death that surrounded him. '_Need to find Shisui'_ the mantra repeated over and over in his thoughts. Lightning seared the sky, and the thunder that followed it boomed like a dragon's roar. Amidst the thunder, Naruto heard a distinct sound, one he heard often when his brothers would fight: the clang of metal on metal.

Racing toward the new sound, Naruto saw the ending moments of the battle, and quickly hid himself in some nearby bushes. Looking toward the man who was still standing; Naruto watched him pick up the body of the person he just defeated '_SHISUI! NOOO!' _ The body was indeed that of Shisui's, there was no doubt. '_KUSO, I can't do anything without just being killed'_ Naruto calculated. The man dropped Shisui in the river next to where they battled, and watched him flow downstream, sinking under the water.

Naruto caught a glimpse of the mask on the man's face, it was an Anbu mask, but even in the rain, his advanced eyes saw it. There was something written on the forehead of the mask; 'NE'. The man Shushined away, so Naruto ran to the river and dove in, getting his already wet clothes soaked. He swam toward his fallen brother, vaguely realizing that the current was getting faster. He went underwater and dragged Shisui to the surface, only to see why the current was increasing. There was a waterfall in the middle of the compound, and they managed to be just before it, great. They went over, tumbling on the rocks at the bottom. As Naruto blacked out he noticed a hand reach toward him, and another toward Shisui. He saw another thing, eyes, Sharingan eyes, looking almost… sorry.

He awoke with a start, gasping for air, and breathing it startled him until he remembered what he saw.

"Kami, boy, will you ever stop scaring me?" a hand rested on his shoulder.

He turned around, "I guess not, where's Shisui-nii?"

The old man pointed at a body, "He's still alive, but only barely, my medical jutsu knowledge is very limited, I could only slow his bleeding. Naruto-kun, he's going to pass soon, he wanted to speak to us" Hiruzen solemnly said, pulling the boy into a comforting hug. The two soon stood and walked the few feet toward the dying young man.

"N-Naruto" Shisui managed to cough out, blood running from his lip. "I'm n-not gonna make it t-through this one otouto, so I w-wanted to give you an e-early birthday present, Hokage-s-sama will you honor my l-last wish?"

"Yes, I promise Shisui"

"I-I want you to give m-my eyes to N-Naruto, and protect him from the w-war-bird at all c-costs, please, don't... fail me..."he looked at Naruto, "Goodbye, I...love...you… otouto", and he breathed no more.

"S-Shisui… No, SHISUI-NII!" Naruto screamed, his tears flowing with the oppressive rain. Both cascaded down his cheeks before falling, and meeting his now deceased, brother's. Robed arms wrapped around him, in an attempt to comfort him, but he barely noted their presence. The only thing he saw was the body of his brother. Black crept its way toward the body, Naruto fought it off, but in the end it won.

**Flashback End**

He remembered waking up in the hospital, they let him leave...actually they threw him out. Later that day he ran into his Jiji again, they had ramen together, and Hiruzen told him about the seal.

Naruto took a rest from hitting the trees with his fists, and looked at the black ink on his arm. '_What do you see while you're in there? Do you see anything, or is it just darkness?'_ he mentally asked his only reminders of Shisui, the eyes sealed in his flesh. His resolve to bring back his other brother, who he knew was innocent, hardened, and he resumed his training at a higher pace. _ 'I'm not gonna lose'_

* * *

><p>I made this chapter a tad bit longer than normal. I hope you liked it, and please leave a review.<p> 


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